The Football Association's inquiry into the violent scenes that marred last night's Carling Cup tie between West Ham and Millwall at the Boleyn Ground will address the alleged racist chants directed at players from both sides during the furious match, with the game's governing authority to maintain their policy of zero tolerance by seeking to have any fan found guilty of the offence banned for life.

The England striker Carlton Cole admitted in the aftermath that he was aware of the monkey chants aimed at him by the Millwall fans in the Sir Trevor Brooking stand just prior to his substitution. The forward had retrieved the ball from behind the byline when sections of the support appeared to barrack him, with Cole subsequently seeming to make an offensive gesture at the travelling support as he departed the pitch.

"Yeah, I heard it but it's football, you know," said Cole. "I don't care. I know I'm not a monkey. I might be as strong as a gorilla but I'm not a monkey. That's life, isn't it. You've just got to carry on and get on with it and we got the result – that was the main point. The fans got what they deserved. As you get bigger in football, you're going to get taunts. I look at someone like Frank Lampard as an example. He gets abuse everywhere, but he still gets his head down and carries on. That makes him a bigger and better person. It's about mental toughness."

Both clubs were united in their condemnation of racial abuse, with allegations that the visitors' own substitute, Jason Price, was subjected to similar taunts from the home fans upon his introduction into the fray. "Millwall Football Club condemns racist abuse by supporters of both sides on Tuesday night," insisted the League One club in a statement. "There is no place for racism in society and both Millwall and West Ham work tirelessly in our respective communities to tackle this problem."

A West Ham spokesman added: "We take any sort of racist chanting seriously. If found guilty, we will treat that with the utmost severity."

Cole described the fractious occasion as "a unique experience" but, while both sets of players were oblivious to the violence that had occurred outside the Boleyn Ground prior to kick-off and throughout the game, the Millwall forward Neil Harris echoed the sentiments of his manager, Kenny Jackett, in criticising the West Ham fans for encroaching on the playing area three times towards the end of the game. Fans sprinted on to the turf to taunt the away support following Junior Stanislas' two goals, and again at the final whistle despite appeals over the public address system for fans to remain in the stands.

Millwall's players grouped on the touchline after the second pitch invasion, at which point it appeared the game might even be abandoned. "It was extremely hostile and volatile, but what happens on the terraces is not our concern," said Harris. "All my concern was for my team-mates. At one stage it wasn't very pleasant. I've played in these games before and know what it is all about – big local derbies and red-hot atmospheres. They are terrific games to play in and that is why you play football. It means so much to the supporters of both clubs, but sometimes they get a little bit overzealous.

"Anything can happen when they [the supporters] are on the pitch, but most of the time fans are on the pitch to celebrate a goal, not to attack players. We've had it at Millwall when fans come on to celebrate and everyone makes a big hoo-ha about it. I'm sure if it was our fans on the pitch people would be very keen to report that."